If a number you saw before has moved, or the newest month looks unusually low, this is expected. It is how official records settle, not an error.
Records settle over time
Police records are entered and released on a lag. For about a month after a period ends, more records for that period keep arriving. So the most recent month is always the least complete, and it rises as it fills in. That month is tagged Provisional for exactly this reason.
What to do about it
Read the newest month as "so far," not "final." If you need a settled figure, step back one month with the time machine. Once a month is a few weeks old, it is stable.
Other honest reasons a number moves
- A correction upstream. If the source (HPD open data) revises or reclassifies records, we reflect the corrected figure rather than freeze a stale one. When a finalized month's total changes this way, the dashboard says so in words: a "For the record" line under the signal cards names the month, the old figure, and the new one, so a revision is stated, never a silent swap.
- A coverage boundary. A signal that begins mid-history is labeled, so its first month is not read as a jump in activity.
- Suppression. A category that dipped below 5 becomes "<5" rather than a precise small number.
We never quietly rewrite history. Settling and corrections are normal and
labeled. What you will never see is a number changed to tell a nicer story; every figure is the current honest read
of the record.
Last updated 2026-07-27 HST